Because…

• It’s time to wake up. Why?
• Breakfast is ready. Why?
• Let’s brush our teeth. Why?
• Don’t draw on your baby doll. Why?
• Use a nice voice. Why?
• Let’s go outside. Why?
• Time to sing. Why?
• You have to listen. Why?

That’s pretty much how it is around here with Little Bit nowadays. It really doesn’t matter what the instructions are, they will be questioned. It doesn’t matter if it’s something we’ve done every day since she’s been born. It doesn’t matter if I’ve already explained the why five hundred times. It doesn’t matter if the answer is obvious (even to a four-year-old). She will question.

At first, I tried to provide an answer every time she asked. Don’t laugh at me, I’m sure I’m not the only one who ever fell into that trap! I quickly learned that sometimes, though, no answer was going to be satisfactory. Whatever reason I give is likely to be followed by another “why?” or an argument. Now my go-to response in that situation is one of the phrases my childhood self vowed to never say, “Because I said so!!” She doesn’t like that explanation, but that’s just how it is.

I don’t sit around thinking of ways I can boss Little Bit around. I really do have reasons for the tasks I ask of her. She might not like the reason or be able to understand it. She might disagree or not want to do it. She might just be mad at me or in a mood to question everything. But the bottom line is, as my child, she is supposed to obey.

I guess following orders doesn’t really come easy to any of us, though. How many times has the Lord asked me to do something (or told me not to do something), and my first response is, “Why?” And then the why is spelled out in His Word, and I still want to question, imagining myself to be in some special circumstance that makes things different.

But as God’s child, I am supposed to just obey. As my Father, He knows what I should be doing. There’s no way that I know more than the creator of the universe!